Take Me Home
by GatsbyGeek
Summary: Beast Boy finds Rachel alone and upset, and is left with the choice; does he get her help or take her home? There is a lot of responsibility when you are someone's anchor to reality. OneShot


Rain drove into her back and made the cold flesh sting. Crouched over, she sat under the old jungle gym in the park, rust creeping towards her and a faded green making her stomach even more upset.

She had called him an hour ago, back when she was frantic, and now here she was, alone and numb. Her clothes were soaked through and her phone ruined, unusable.

"Rae?"

The girl didn't move, and the stranger was about to take out his phone to call for help when she used her knees to push her chin further upwards, barely facing the stranger but enough for him to recognize her.

"Rachel! What are you doing here?!"

The man, his hair an artificial dark green, was quick to go to her side, sheltering her under his umbrella. The girl, Rachel, looked disrupted and displeased at the halt of rain, and lifted her head slightly by her neck's accord.

"Hey Beast Boy." She rasped, her voice was an unusual tone, deep and scratchy, unlike Rachel's normal chime.

The man dug his umbrella into the woodchips and soaked dirt, fitting his massive frame underneath and grasping the frozen girl within his embrace.

"Yeah, yeah, Beast Boy's here. It's alright." He soothed, relieved. "Dick said you called him, that you weren't making any sense. What happened?"

The girl looked confused, and furrowed her brow before asking, "Who?"

Beast Boy sighed, "Robin."

She nodded in agreement. Her eyes were unfocused, glazed over, unnatural. She had cropped her hair again-finding the offending locks had grown-with scissors, leading to a hacked, painful style.

Rachel spent a long time just clutching to Beast Boy silently before speaking again.

"Say my name."

"Rachel."

"No", she finally focused her eyes onto his and spoke again, "my _name_. Like you used to."

"Raven?"

She hummed in delight and curled back into his embrace. The green haired man had sighed again, his pity for the deeply disturbed girl growing. Indeed, he used to love her and indeed, he used to use that nickname, "Raven", for her often, but things weren't like when they were kids. Everyone had to grow up at some point. Rachel had just liked to stay in her imagination for too long.

"We have to go back." He whispered, tucking his arm under her knees and the other around her back, lifting the drenched girl along with his umbrella before trudging along the watery path to his destination.

"Beast Boy," She started, her voice raspy once again and eyes empty. "I miss everyone."

"Rachel, no one left, we all just grew up and changed. You refused, and things just got a little mixed up. We can still fix everything, sweetheart, we can all be friends again, like we used to. You just have to stop this story you keep telling yourself."

The small girl hit her weak fist against his chest in anger and hissed "It's _not_ a story! I'm telling you, how we are now isn't right, it's all different! And stop calling me Rachel!"

He had had enough.

"Rachel!" His voice was raised and stern, startling the girl in his arms with his rough tone. "Stop. I can't keep doing this. I'm Garfield Logan, not 'Beast Boy', Dick's not 'Robin', we're not the 'Titans'. Kory keeps entertaining this fantasy of yours because she's a sweet girl, not because it's true. She's not 'Starfighter'".

"Starfire."

Garfield raised an eyebrow at her mumble. "What?"

"HER NAME IS STARFIRE! She remembers! Every time she visits me she tells me she believes me!" Rachel grew furious, her eyes gaining a semblance if their old sparkle, and her voice grew louder and louder.

"Rae, she's just entertaining you. You know we all love you, me, Kory, Dick, Victor, all of us." Garfield reassured, before setting her back down on her feet as they reached their destination.

Rachel began to panic, grasping the man's jacket as he walked them both inside the double doors of the Jump City building.

"Please Beast Boy! Don't send me back! Please, I'm begging you, I'll do anything! I'll be good, I swear! Please, let me stay with you, or by myself, anywhere but here!"

It tore his heart out to hear her beg and cry, but Garfield knew it was for the best, and he tried to look away from her tear stained face when he heard familiar voices approach, but found he was unable to as she continued to beat on his chest, pulling away from the doctors gripping her shoulders.

Her mother was the first to speak. "Thank you Garfield, we had no idea she got out until Richard called us. He's here with Koriand'r and Victor, but I wasn't sure if it would be beneficial for her to see them." Her voice was low as she spoke, not letting her daughter hear. "What do you think? You always knew her better than we did."

Her words were true, as much as Garfield hated to admit it. He and Rachel used to be inseparable before this illness occurred, and deep in his heart he knew she needed her friends.

"Let them in to see her before she goes back, it might calm her down, or at least give her closure." He whispered, out of the younger girl's hearing.

Soon after, several voices could be heard nearing closer to the pair of teens in each other's grasp.

Koriand'r was the first to react. "Rachel!" She yelled and grabbed the girl by her shoulders. "What were you thinking? We were all so worried about you!"

"I'm sorry."

The redhead was the last one of the group to let go of Rachel and give up. Even Garfield stopped trying to snap her back into reality and, at times, avoided her altogether. The first to give up on her was Dick, and it hit Rachel hard. In her fantasy world, he was supposedly the group's leader, never giving up and always fighting until the end. It crushed her. Victor gave a small effort, but the two never were very close.

"You shouldn't have done that. This place can help you." Dick said sternly.

"I know, but I had to find my way back to the Tower!" Rachel yelled back.

Dick shook his head and started to leave. "Give this up, Rachel."

A rather large guard had stepped over to the group, announcing it was time for their friend to go. The man had went to grab the girl's arm and the second he made contact she screamed at the top of her lungs a wailing, raspy, painful scream that forced her grief stricken mother to leave and Garfield to let go of her.

"NO!" she screeched. "I _can't_ go! NO! Please Beast Boy help me! Get him off of me _please_!"

Tears streaked down Kory's face and she covered her mouth, falling into Victor's embrace. The large guard fiercely gripped her small wrist, and for a minute something foreign and long forgotten rose in Garfield's chest; a sort of beastly urge. Rachel continued to fight and more guards ran over to rip her arms behind her and attempt to restrain her. She bit and kicked and scratched and screeched, every sound and forming red welt nicked Garfield's heart, confusing him.

" _STARFIRE!_ Please, help me! Cyborg, Robin! I promise I won't try and find you again! I swear I'll be good, just don't send me back!"

Rachel was crying now as the guards subdued her, sobbing freely and exhausted, dark rings encircling her eyes. Her doctor was present as she was taken away and back to her room.

"I'm so glad she was found and unhurt." He said, clearly concerned and confused. "And I assure you we will help her and make sure she stays put with tighter security. We'll take care of her."

Garfield took one more cautious look around the Jump City Mental Hopsital before shaking the doctor's hand and leaving with the others.

"Thank you Doctor Slade."

 **A/N: BOOM! I love surprise endings! I'm sorry if this got really shitty towards the end. I had block and just sort of wanted it over. Any and all feedback is appreciated! My other stories should be updated soon! Between work and art, it'll be by the end of the week that my other stories will be all updated. Thank you for reading.**


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